No. 12 Duke Stuns No. 1 Wake Forest to Clinch the Series

Sunday, March 10

Winston-Salem, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

13-2, 2-1

Wake Forest

12-3, 1-2

Duke

Wake Forest

No. 12 Duke Stuns No. 1 Wake Forest to Clinch the Series

3/10/2024 8:30:00 PM | Baseball

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DURHAM – For the first time since 2009, the Blue Devils (13-2, 2-1 ACC) collected a series win over a No. 1-ranked team, defeating Wake Forest (12-3, 1-2 ACC), 10-8, on Sunday to clinch the series.

Graduate Charlie Beilenson completed the final frame, collecting his seventh save of the season. He allowed one hit and struck out three batters.

Junior Jimmy Romano earned the win in relief, working 1.1 innings and striking out three Demon Deacons. Duke's offense strung together six runs, on two hits and five walks to extend its lead to 9-2 in the top of the fifth inning.

Sophomore Owen Proksch escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth striking out the final batter to send the Blue Devils to the ninth. Duke tacked on a run in the top half of the frame, before Beilenson slammed the door.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, 1-0.
Tyler Albright reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Devin Obee from second on a throwing error. Zac Morris singled to left field to score Albright from second in the top of the second inning, 2-1.
In the top of the third inning, Logan Bravo scored on a wild pitch, 3-1.
The Demon Deacons cut into the Duke lead in the bottom of the fourth, 3-2.
Albright drew a bases loaded walk to score Bravo from third. Wallace Clark walked to score AJ Gracia from third. Ben Miller drew a bases loaded walk to score Obee. Alex Stone reached on a throwing error to score a pair, 9-2.
Wake Forest cut into the lead with five in the bottom of the fifth inning, 9-7.
The Demon Deacons cut the Blue Devils lead to one in the bottom of the sixth inning, 9-8.
Stone singled to right field to score Clark from second, 10-8.

NOTES

The win over No. 1 Wake Forest marked the first series victory over a No. 1-ranked team since 2009, when Duke took down North Carolina.
Duke batted around in the fifth inning for the ninth time this season, scoring six runs in the frame.
The Blue Devils improved to 194-40 (.829) since 2016 when scoring three-plus runs in a frame.
Junior Jimmy Romano improved to 1-0 on the season, earning the win in relief for the Blue Devils. He worked 1.1 innings, allowing two hits and striking out three batters.
Graduate Charlie Beilenson collected his seventh save of the season, working the final frame and striking out three.

QUOTES

"That was two good teams going head-to-head tonight and I am extremely proud of our club and our toughness tonight. I thought we were really tough over the second half of that game to come out with the win." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the grit and toughness tonight by Duke.
"First of all, that was Brady Kirkpatrick's call to leave Owen in the ballgame. I asked him what he wanted to do since we got Charlie up and moving. I trust Brady a lot, but we have a lot of really talented guys, but Owen is our best competitor, and our guys have a lot of confidence in him." – On the decision to leave Owen Proksch in to face Seaver King in the bottom of the eighth.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils return home to open a six-game homestand with two midweek contests with Rider. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 4 p.m.

For more information on Duke Baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeBASE".

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